The thespian fell for the movie icon in 2001 after a secret dinner date, for which Taylor was almost two hours late, and he has revealed all about their first night together, after an Oscar party at her home, in his new memoir, "Dropped Names: Famous Men & Women as I Knew Them."

The romance didn't last long because Langella grew frustrated with the aged actress' "diving arrogance" and her love for personal dramas.

Speaking at the weekend's Nantucket Film Festival, where Langella was the recipient of the Compass Rose Acting Award, the 74-year-old said, "I was in my 60s and she was a few years older than me. I found this woman to be immensely fragile and immensely vulnerable and immensely endearing even with all the qualities that I mention in the chapter (in the book) about how physical she could be and extraordinarily commanding and in charge. She always wanted to be with every man she was with.

"I liked this woman very, very much and I was very happy to be in her company for a while but I knew, also in the best sense of the word, this was a monster and I could never survive."